The notion of charity isn’t what it used to be. Due to the smorgasbord of charities that are out there, organizations must market themselves to encourage people to donate to them instead of their competitors. As a result, it’s vital that the right digital marketing strategies are implemented to appeal the target audience of the charity at hand. For instance, Muslim charities will need to put provisions in place well in advance of Eid ul-Adha, whilst homeless charities should be working to encourage more donations during the cold winter months. Every charity is different; however, in terms of digital marketing, there are some common practices that they should all be looking to follow.
Consider Your Goals
This doesn’t only apply to charities, as the initial stage of any digital marketing strategy is to consider your goals. Goals will vary from charity to charity and their intentions; however, there are some common goals that most charities strive for. These are fundraising and awareness, which digital marketing is actually perfect for. When contemplating your goals, it’s always imperative that your budget is kept in mind, as this will help you achieve manageable targets. These targets might include raising a certain amount of donations in a year or sending aid to a certain number of countries. These goals will ultimately help you shape your digital marketing strategy.
Know Your Audience
As previously mentioned, identifying your target audience is imperative when it comes to developing a digital marketing strategy. Figuring out who your typical donor is will help you select which platforms you focus on, as well as which modes of digital marketing that you use. You can obtain this information using web analytic systems, such as Google Analytics, as this will present you with information about the age and location of your site visitors. Some charities will have quite a broad audience, making it difficult to pin the identity of a typical donor, whereby segmentation may be of help.
Create a Functional Website
Today, most charities will obtain their donations via their website, meaning it’s essential that the website is functional. If a donor finds the website too difficult to navigate, it takes far too long to load, or it keeps crashing, they’re likely to exit and donate to another charity. The donor’s journey is an imperative factor of consideration, as they must be satisfied to proceed with the donation. One of the simplest ways to ensure this is by putting yourself in the donor’s shoes; visit your own website on various devices and make a donation.
Design a Website Well
Not only does a charity website need to work well, but it also needs to have a design that entices the donor to learn more about your charity. This is more important for a charity than any other type of organization, as people are handing over their hard-earned money, and they want to know what’s being done with it. A well-designed charity website includes plenty of images that tell you exactly what the cause is, as visual aids will encourage the the potential donor to learn more. Charities are very emotional and it’s important to appeal to the emotional side of your donors in order to gain funding.
Utilise Social Media
Social media is an incredibly powerful tool in terms of marketing. The average person spends two hours and 24 minutes on social media per day, so if you’re looking to capture attention, this is certainly the way to go. Make sure you choose the right platforms that your target audience will use the most, as this will attract them to your donation site.
